(Eagle News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the emergency use authorization for a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years old.

Through a statement released by the FDA on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, the health agency said the booster can be administered to young children five months after completion of the primary series with the Pfizer vaccine.

“While it has largely been the case that COVID-19 tends to be less severe in children than adults, the omicron wave has seen more kids getting sick with the disease and being hospitalized, and children may also experience longer term effects, even following initially mild disease,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D.

In Janauary of this year, the FDA booster dose was approved for children 12 to 15 years old. This latest development makes children as young as five eligible for the booster shot.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will still need to give the green light before the shot can actually go into the arms of young children.

U.S. health experts continue to push the importance of vaccine and boosters in the nation’s fight against Covid-19.

“The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is effective in helping to prevent the most severe consequences of COVID-19 in individuals 5 years of age and older,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “The FDA has determined that the known and potential benefits of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children 5 through 11 years of age at least five months after completing a primary series outweigh its known and potential risks and that a booster dose can help provide continued protection against COVID-19 in this and older age groups.”

(Eagle News Service)